Pinto da Costa: “A beautiful and well deserved cup”

FC Porto B offered the Premier League International Cup to the Museum, in a visit accompanied by the Chairman

The Premier League International Cup, won by FC Porto B in England in the final against Sunderland, is now on display in the space “On time” of the Museum, after going to the hands of Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa. The honour of delivering the cup belonged to captain Francisco Ramos, on behalf of the squad, present at the ceremony that took place this morning that was attended by Vice-Chairmen Fernando Gomes and Joaquim Pinheiro, and Luís Gonçalves, general director for football. The Chairman highlighted the importance of the victory, which, despite being undermined by some, was “well deserved”, by a group of players that gives the club positive signs for the near future.

“It's a competition to which UEFA gives great importance and the fact that the newspapers run in our capital city didn’t care for this victory is further proof of its importance. FC Porto won it with all the merit, the players had a fantastic performance, left the stadium under a great ovation from the fans of the opposing club and they give us hope that many of them will join the main squad and become responsible for many victories we hope for in the future”, Pinto da Costa stated, also highlighting “the fantastic work” of António Folha, who managed to “create a true team spirit”.

The coach of the B team received the words of the Chairman as “further incentive” for the players to continue working with the goal of “getting through the next door”, that of the main team. Folha spoke of “seriousness and passion”, the basis of his work, to explain how he was able to rebuild the team when he took charge in January in a difficult stage in the Second League: “I gave them my confidence, and the secret was the union of the group and the highlight of this course was an excellent performance in the final against a difficult opponent, who showed a lot of quality throughout the competition, but who still had no chance because our players were fantastic and clearly showed they wanted to win that final”.

That night at the Stadium of Light, Francisco Ramos was the one raising that “beautiful cup”, in the eyes of Pinto da Costa. Proud of the victory in an international competition that adds to the title of champion in the 2015/16 Second League, the captain talked more about the future than the present and about the goal they all pursue: “I've already had the opportunity to train with the main team. We all aspire to get there, we know that not everyone will be able to, but I hope many of us will be there”.